Russell being Russell. That's really all it is. With 8:53 left and his team up 25 in the third quarter of the Thunder's 106-89 win over Memphis on Thursday night, Russell Westbrook and Thabo Sefolosha exchanged heated words over a five-second backdown violation. Westbrook was upset Sefolosha made a cut to bring over a second defender. The two barked at each other and things went on. Except they didn't. Westbrook came out of the game earlier than usual and appeared to lose his mind on the bench. While assistant Mo Cheeks attempted to reason with him, Westbrook slammed down his towel, flipped over some equipment and took off for the locker room. When he returned minutes later, the Thunder's 25-point lead had been cut to 10 and Westbrook's tantrum was quickly becoming a major storyline. Westbrook then returned to the game to begin the fourth quarter and, ironically, was a steadying force, helping OKC settle down and put away a depleted Grizzlies team. But still, that outburst was odd and concerning. Westbrook dubbed it a "miscommunication" and the team and coach Scott Brooks completely downplayed it postgame, chalking it up to Westbrook just being emotional and frustrated with himself.

I feel like Thabo has been doing something, either in practice or in previous games, that has been annoying Westbrook, and this one just set off his little tantrum. Pretty childish IMO. Seems like high school basketball ish.